Brooding, Inturrupted
by Shadow Oblivion
Summary: Pitch Black wanted to be left alone to brood in relative peace following his defeat at the hands of the Guardians. Constant snow falling on one's head, however, did not help with the brooding process, nor did the presence of a mischievously smiling Jack Frost causing said snowfall.


This fic is meant to be humorous like the genre stated, but it is also a way for me to test out writing the characters in a hopefully IC way while having a little fun with their interactions with one another.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the_ Rise of the Guardians _movie or related material. I just liked the movie a lot and wanted more.

x-x-x

The dim, gloomy atmosphere of the underground realm around him matched his morose mood perfectly.

Pitch was currently lounging in a way that embodied the aura of a defeated man who wished for nothing more than the world to collapse around him. That it didn't happen was reason for a displeased sigh to escape his lips. The few Nightmares that had remained behind wouldn't come anywhere near him, and that added to his dark mood. The snow that was lightly falling on his head and covering his black hair with a thin veil of white didn't help either. Pitch finally allowed himself to be distracted from his brooding, for the moment, to turn an eye on his unwanted house guest.

Pitch tilted his head up to stare at the grinning winter spirit, who was sending bursts of snowflakes over the Nightmare Kings' head at regular intervals. Pitch transferred his gaze to the empty cage next to the one Jack was resting on. Moodily, Pitch struck the cage with a diminished sand arrow. Pitch's lip curled into a rather sadistic smile as he imagined his target being a tiny tooth fairy. The fear from the other tiny creatures would have been delightful.

"I'm going to pretend that I didn't just see you do that. Because, you know, Tooth wouldn't be too happy to see you fantasizing over killing one of her fairies." Jack commented from where he was swaying on top of a cage. When he was perfectly balanced once more, Jack jabbed his staff in Pitch's direction, and more snow burst into existence over Pitch's head.

Pitch sent a scathing look in the pale teen's direction, before ignoring him altogether to flop bonelessly on to his chair. He was feeling a bit low in power, and that left him with barely enough energy to move, let alone go out and menace some children. He couldn't even get Jack Frost to leave him alone to his dark thoughts. Pitch reached up to dislodge some of the snow out of his hair, only to have more snow drop right back down on it.

As a way to distract himself from dealing with Jack, Pitch thought of what would happen if he tried to go out and frighten some children. He then abruptly dismissed the idea, as the humiliation of his most recent defeat had reduced him to this, languishing in self-pity from dawn until dusk each day. _'The Guardians must be so pleased with themselves.'_ Pitch thought sourly, as even more snow started to fall down on him. Well, let them feel a sense of accomplishment, for when he gained power again…oh the things he had planned for his enemies. Pitch's sour look had been replaced with a wickedly delighted smile. He also knew which Guardian he was going to start with and it began with a 'J'.

"Wow, with just that expression, you wouldn't have to give children any nightmares. You could terrify them with just your face. What the heck are you so happy about all of a sudden?" Jack was now lying on his stomach, chin propped up on his arms. The cage wasn't exactly comfortable to lie on, but it gave him a good angle to point his staff at Pitch, and continue to have light snow fall down on the other man.

Pitch's dark, brooding thoughts dissipated as the painfully cheerful voice finally broke through his attempt at ignoring the other. Pitch tilted his head again, really not in the mood to deal with the winter spirit at this time, "Oh, you're still here? Does that mean you are going to start gloating now? It would be _so_ much better than your near constant assault on my head with your snow."

Jack stretched as he got up and hopped down off the top of the cage to land neatly on the ground, a few paces away from Pitch's chair. Jack leaned into his staff, cheek resting against it as he considered Pitch slouched in the chair, "All of that pouting can't be good for your health."

Pitch sneered, clearly displeased with Jack's misinterpretation of his actions, "I am not 'pouting.' I am brooding, and you have been interrupting my thoughts for the past several hours. Leave me."

Jack smiled insolently, "No, you're totally pouting. I didn't think you'd be such a poor loser. I would've thought you'd be plotting your revenge by now. Not acting like this." Jack indicated with his hand the way Pitch was draped dramatically over his chair.

Pitch trailed a hand along the chair idly, "Oh, I am plotting, I assure you, and all of you Guardians will be sorry that you ever interfered with my plans."

Jack didn't look at all convinced by this announcement, "Uh-huh, because sitting in your chair and thinking dark, evil thoughts for hours on end is so productive. I take it back. You're not pouting, you're sulking." Jack twirled his staff, thinking of a way to get Pitch out of the chair already. Jack was starting to feel a bit depressed just by looking at the other man and the doom and gloom mood he was in.

Pitch's eyes followed the staff's movements warily, before turning his full attention on the pale teen doing the motions, "Are you quite finished? I'd like to get back to my brooding, if you don't mind. It is hard to do so with your presence." Pitch rose out of his chair smoothly, avoiding a burst of ice to the shoulder. Pitch wasn't slouching now; he was standing still, poised and waiting for another attack. When Jack didn't do anything, Pitch laughed bitterly, "What? You want a fight now?" Pitch back stepped into a shadow as Jack approached him, the staff leveled and ready. Pitch came out of a shadow from behind Jack, forming a weapon out of the black sand, "Very well then."

The next half hour consisted of snide and snarky banter, where black sand and ice mixed together when one comment ended up striking a bit of a sore spot. To match these actions was a scowling Pitch and a mischievously grinning Jack.

Pitch finally grew tired of the vandalism of his home, and in a lucky move, managed to get the black sand to reach out and restrain Jack. Pitch's triumph was short-lived when he saw that Jack still wore that infuriating, self-assured smile. Pitch circled the trapped winter spirit, his hands clasped behind his back, "Why are you so happy? I could run you through with an arrow, if I have a mind to."

"I know you could, but you aren't going to, are you?" Jack didn't bother struggling. He knew he was trapped, but he also knew that something had changed in Pitch marginally. It was what Jack had been trying to do the whole time since he had come down here. To try and drag Pitch out of his misery.

Pitch laughed nastily as he formed an arrow, albeit a small one, and aimed it at Jack in an almost lazy way, "Oh? Won't I?" Pitch was smiling in malicious pleasure now, as he made a motion of being ready to loose the arrow, quite pleased that he was getting the better of an enemy.

"You seem to be in a better mood. Feeling better?" Jack queried light heartedly, entirely unconcerned with the weapon aimed at him.

"Feeling better…what do you…?" Pitch's eyes widened marginally, the arrow vanishing as he stared incredulously at Jack, like he couldn't believe what he had just heard, "You were just playing around?"

"Well, duh. I like to have fun, you know. I could almost feel all the negativity coming from you when I was flying by, so I decided to stop in. Figured you might want some company, to try and get you out of your depression." Jack tugged at the restraints of black sand, "Would you mind letting me go now? I guess you just want to be all alone and miserable after all."

Pitch nearly rolled his eyes as the oppressive cheerfulness that statement was delivered in threatened to overwhelm him. It was rather pathetic to have an enemy of all people worrying about him. Pitch waved a hand irritably, and Jack was freed, "Be gone then, before I change my mind and use you for target practice."

A snowball to the back of the head was all the response Jack gave, and Pitch rounded on him to snarl his disapproval, when another snowball hit him square in the face. Livid, Pitch brushed the snow away and locked eyes with the teen, who was acting like he hadn't just thrown a snowball and pissed off an enemy, "That was a mistake you will regret, Frost." Pitch said in a dangerously soft tone, before he lunged toward Jack, a scythe materializing from the black sand. While it was smaller than what Pitch had managed before, it could still do damage.

Jack hopped nimbly aside, a maddening smile etched across his face as Pitch chased him out of the darkness of the lair.

x-x-x

It was a quiet night in Burgess. The Guardians had stopped by, hoping to locate Jack. They hadn't heard from him in a while, and while they knew that Jack could take care of himself, they didn't want to take any chances. They were, however, surprised with what they found.

North, Tooth, Bunnymund and the Sandman watched with mixed feelings as a gleeful Jack flew by with a laugh, followed by a staunchly determined Pitch. The Nightmare King seemed intent on catching Jack, and the winter spirit seemed absolutely delighted that Pitch seemed to be back to his normal self. Well, as normal as a crazed smile and dark intentions could be.

North watched Jack and Pitch exchange blows, a little concerned with the way that Pitch was bearing his teeth in such a savage grin, "Should we be stepping in?"

Bunnymund was leaning up against a nearby wall, watching the fight with little interest, "Nah, mate. I reckon Jack can handle himself. See 'im? He's just playing and having fun. Though Pitch doesn't seem to appreciate it much." Not that Bunny wouldn't mind if Pitch got a few nicks in. It would teach Jack to be a bit more careful about picking his fights. Of course, Bunny wouldn't stand by if anything did go wrong, and he figured he'd have a clear shot at Pitch if need be.

Tooth fluttered about anxiously, not nearly as confident as Bunnymund was, "Are you sure we shouldn't step in? What if Jack gets hurt?" She didn't voice that she was also concerned for Jack's teeth, as Jack staying in one piece was more important than that. But that didn't mean she didn't worry about that too.

North let out a booming laugh that surprisingly went unheard by the combatants. Jack had just frozen a patch of the ground beneath Pitch, which caused the Nightmare King to fall rather ungracefully on his backside in the snow. North was smiling a little now, "I'm thinking Jack has good handle on situation." North noticed that the Sandman was watching Pitch and Jack with a thoughtful expression, "Sandy? What is it?"

Sandy turned to North and formed a smiley face with dream sand over his head, followed by a snowflake and an image of Pitch, ending with a question mark.

North's eyes followed Jack and Pitch's movements, and noted their expressions again, then stated, "It does seem like they are having fun. Even Pitch."

Tooth was still worried for Jack's well-being, "Fun? Pitch is trying to lop Jack's head off!" It did seem that way, with the way Pitch was swinging the scythe at Jack's upper body.

North clapped a hand on Bunnymund's shoulder, jostling him, "His way of having fun, no?"

Bunnymund shook his head, "If you say so mate." Bunny's ears rose up as Pitch let out a sound of frustration that he just couldn't quite reach Jack dodging about. "Though it sounds more like Pitch is disappointed." He and the other Guardians watched Jack and Pitch go further down the road, into the nearby forest, really at a loss of what to do.

x-x-x

Jack and Pitch, meanwhile, were entirely focused on their fight, neither noticing the other Guardians' presence, nor their reactions to their sudden sparring match. Jack danced out of harm's way once more, "So, how are you feeling now?"

Pitch paused mid step, and narrowed his eyes, as he did notice that he wasn't feeling as depressed as before. His energy level seemed to have been rising as well the longer the fight dragged on. How odd. The scythe suddenly vanished into thin air as Pitch glowered at Jack, "You were planning on drawing me out of my home all along. Why?"

Jack rested his staff over one shoulder easily, his other hand in his pocket, "So what if I did? I didn't like that you were so down, so I thought that you could use a little distraction..."

"...and have some fun while we're at it?" Pitch added sarcastically, displeased with this turn of events.

"Well, you did, didn't you?" Jack asked curiously.

Pitch sighed. It had been rather fun, attacking an enemy that wouldn't hold still, but he didn't like how smug Jack was right now.

Jack tensed, his eyes widening a bit in alarm when he saw Pitch start to smile. The Nightmare King managed to call up the shadows around him, "Shall we play one of my games, Frost? You've had your fun, so now it's my turn."

Jack didn't get to respond to that as the shadows came crashing down around him to whisk him off.

An hour and a half later, Jack found himself hanging upside down, black sand holding him aloft. Jack still had his staff, and he sent a shower of snowflakes to land directly on to Pitch in retaliation to being caught.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" Pitch queried, as if growing weary with how tiresome the pale teen could be.

"Nope." Jack responded, this time launching a snowball at Pitch, which caused the grey skinned man to have some more sand snake out and twist around Jack's wrists to prevent that from happening again.

Jack spent the next several hours upside down, as Pitch went prowling about his lair, pretending to be deaf to Jack's attempts to start a conversation. At one point, Jack's words did merit a response. Jack twitched against the sand restraints, but couldn't quite get the staff in his hands to point at Pitch, "So…why am I still here if you don't want to talk to me or fight with me?"

Pitch cast a glance up in Jack's general direction, and spoke up in a drawl, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'm waiting for some kind of fear to appear in you. I could do with some fear right now. Your cheerfulness is quite nauseating."

Jack smirked at that, "I'm not afraid of you."

"I can wait." Pitch stated in a disinterested way.

"You'll be waiting for a long time. Good luck with that," Jack shot back, and with a slightly painful twist, managed to bean Pitch with a few bursts of snowflakes, "I think you do want company, but you're just so stubborn that you're not going to admit it. Is that because you're…" Jack dropped his voice to whisper dramatically, wiggling the fingers of one of his hands at Pitch, "…the boogeyman. Ooooo. I'm so scary that there's no time for me to have any fun, or speak civilly to anyone without trying to scare the living hell out of them. Oooooo."

There was no response from Pitch, and the shadows made it hard for Jack to see him clearly, but if he had been able to, Jack would have seen a small, genuine smile hovering about the Nightmare King's lips for a brief moment.

Pitch eyed Jack silently, and decided that it wasn't so bad to have a little fun. But that didn't mean he had to be happy that Jack was the one to bring that about. Nor at the teen's poor attempt at mocking him, as amusing as it had been. It just wasn't in Jack's nature. Pitch allowed himself a dark smile. He, however, was the Nightmare King, and he would, in time, make himself known to the world again.

Splat.

A snowball nailed Pitch in the face, ruining his suddenly better mood. His eyes zeroed in on the winter spirit, and with a sharp hand motion, released him from the black sand. Pitch offered a hair-raising smile as he summoned up another scythe. In the meantime, Pitch was going to teach a pale, smirking brat to dance. Via a sharp scythe.

Jack just dodged out of the way of the oncoming blade with a mischievous smile.

x-x-x

That was entertaining to write. I like Pitch and Jack bickering with one another-there's something quite amusing about it. Let me know how it turned out? I like to try and keep characters IC as often as I can unless there's a reason for ooc to occur.

I have another two fics (one-shots) that I'm working on, so I'm going to be posting those when I'm happy with how they are written.


End file.
